Royals Rumblings - News for July 23, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for July 23, 2015

Andy McCullough shared some thoughts about the Royals on Buster Olney's podcast.

"They had six starting pitchers and he was the least effective of the six. … Ventura’s the guy who was leg-kicking and swaggering through game six of the World Series last year and all of a sudden he’s pouting on the mound, slumping his shoulders and doesn’t believe in his stuff. … They want him to go and have some success and come back and be helpful.

"It’s still unclear how they’ll handle Vargas going down. But if they stick with their plan … he’ll be down there for at least 10 days to get a couple starts and get his feet back under him."

Vahe Gregorian thinks Yordano's demotion will be a minor setback to his career.

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results — from a pitcher who at various times has misplaced his mojo, self-control, pitching control and even confidence on the way to generating just 15 innings in his last four starts, including giving up six runs in four innings on Monday. Any expectation that, shazam, he will just find himself was fool’s gold propped on a trap door inside a mirage.

Right now the Royals can only hope and guess they might get a productive start from Ventura, and that’s not good for them or him if he’s going to resume the promising path he’d been on. And why shouldn’t he resume that, by the way? What he did a year ago means there is every reason to believe this all is merely a blip, and it’s ample reason to believe the move ultimately will prove manager Ned Yost’s words prophetic.

Joe Blanton knew his job was probably on the line this week.

Blanton said while he was aware a roster move was coming on Tuesday, he tried not to think of the possibilities, or even the worst-case scenario -- being released.

"That's stuff you try to not think about," Blanton said. "It's the business side and as a player you try not to think about that. You go about your job. "I just came in today and I heard that a move was made. But I wasn't really thinking about it

Jeff Passan writes that Lorenzo Cain has the best smile in baseball.

The best smile in baseball belongs to Cain, and it's not particularly close. It's mischievous and devious and innocent and easy, and when Gerry Davis called Marte out on an ill-advised send by Pirates third-base coach Rick Sofield, it crested in full force, the moment only accentuating its brightness.

Dave Cameron writes that no team need Johnny Cueto more than the Royals.

No contender in baseball would get a larger upgrade from adding Cueto than the Royals because most contenders aren't handing the baseball to Blanton or Guthrie on a regular basis. So that alone is a good reason to make a deal. But I'd also suggest that the Royals, who spent years building their farm system to try and get to this point, shouldn't let this opportunity pass by because it might be the best shot they get with this group. ...

So while the Royals have a terrific young core, it's probably not wise to assume that they're going to cruise to division titles for the foreseeable future. This might very well be the best chance the Royals ever have to win the World Series.

Rob Neyer is still mad at Ed Farmer after all these years.

Dave Brown with CBS Sports thinks that Cole Hamels would be a good fit.

The Royals did not receive any competitive balance draft picks for 2016.

If you want to support the Noah Bandage Project for the Royals seven-year old Royals superfan that passed away recently from cancer, look into buying this t-shirt.

The Mets and A's are discussing a Ben Zobrist trade.

The Orioles may be willing to deal young pitcher Kevin Gausman.

Our own Kevin Ruprecht looks at which teams could use Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto the most.

Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs looks at what happened to teams that traded for front-line pitchers.

An independent league team is going to let computers call balls and strikes for a few games.

Are defensive shifts making defensive metrics more problematic?

What its like to be a hot dog vendor at a baseball stadium (h/t MightyMinx)

Bill Barnwell at Grantland ranks the top 100 players in football.

Bill Simmons lands a deal with HBO.

Colin Cowherd talks about why he left ESPN.

Is the media becoming a wire service?

Americans think they don't work enough hours.

There are members of the Secret Service who are tasked with looking for hateful comments of the President online.

Your song of the day is Ben Folds Five with "Don't Change Your Plans."